Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wins Democratic nomination for Georgia governor

ATLANTA (AP) — Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms won the Democratic nomination to be Georgia’s next governor on Tuesday, setting up a November election where she hopes to win a seat that has eluded her party for more than two decades.

Bottoms snagged a rare endorsement from former President Joe Biden after serving in his administration. She has argued to voters that she was “battle-tested,” trying to make a virtue out of a mayoral term where she had to manage crime, disorder and the COVID-19 pandemic before her surprise decision not to seek reelection.

Like other Democrats, she cites expanding healthcare, affordable housing and better education as among her top issues. Bottoms faced criticism from former state Sen. Jason Esteves in the primary, but she benefited from wider name recognition.

Democrats have not won the Georgia governor’s office for 24 years. It’s the third consecutive time that Georgia Democrats have nominated a Black woman as their candidate for governor — Stacey Abrams was the nominee in the last two elections — reflecting a party that relies on support from Black women as its most loyal voters.

In the Republican primary for governor, Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and healthcare billionaire Rick Jackson have advanced to the June 16 runoff, extending a bruising campaign battle.

President Donald Trump endorsed Jones last year, and Jones thanked him Tuesday night. A Jones win would boost Trump’s influence in a critical battleground state. The president’s kingmaker record in Georgia had been shaky, failing to dislodge Gov. Brian Kemp and others in 2022 and backing Herschel Walker in a Senate loss that year.

Meanwhile, two-term U.S. Rep. Mike Collins advanced to the Republican runoff for the U.S. Senate.

The owner of a family trucking business, Collins, 58, represents a district east of Atlanta. The Trump ally calls himself a “MAGA workhorse” and has made immigration enforcement a focus of his candidacy.

Georgia Republicans are looking for a challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff. Of the other contenders, Rep. Buddy Carter is playing up his conservative records on Capitol Hill, while former college football coach Derek Dooley pitches himself as a political outsider.

US Senate race will help determine Capitol Hill control

Ossoff, 39, had no opposition in Tuesday’s primary. This is his first reelection campaign.

He’s the only Democratic senator in the country seeking reelection this year in a state that Trump won in 2024, making his race one of the most closely watched in the country. He has positioned himself as a critic of political corruption, targeting Trump and his sons for business dealings that have enriched the first family.

Meanwhile, the Republican primary has been a test of fealty to the president.

Carter has attacked Collins over a House ethics complaint accusing him of abusing taxpayer funds by paying the girlfriend of a top aide for work she allegedly didn’t perform. The Office of Congressional Conduct, after an initial inquiry, has referred the matter to the House Ethics Committee.

Collins denies wrongdoing.

“If taxpayers can’t trust you to properly steward their money, how can they trust you to be a U.S. senator?” Carter asked Collins in a primary debate.

“Buddy,” Collins shot back, “I can tell through your voice that you know how the polling is going out there.”

Collins sponsored the Lake Riley Act, a 2025 law that requires immigrants be detained when charged with certain crimes. Republicans believe the issue damages Ossoff because he initially voted against the measure before supporting it after Trump’s 2024 victory.

Collins criticized Ossof during remarks Tuesday night. He talked up his support for the Lake Riley Act and looked ahead to the general election.

“You can replace a Democrat with an actual conservative,” he said.

Huge sums in Republican governor’s race

More than $125 million has been spent on advertising in the Republican primary for governor, with more than $66 million of that spent by Jackson’s campaign, according to the latest figures from ad-tracking firm AdImpact. By contrast, Democrats running for governor have only spent about $4 million.

Jones argues that his conservative record as a state senator and lieutenant governor, combined with Trump’s support, should make him the clear choice for Republican voters.

“I think Georgia just spoke, y’all,” Jones said at his election night party. “The reason why I know we’re gonna win is because of friends and family members.”

Jackson is betting that his outsider pitch will win over antiestablishment conservatives. On Tuesday night, he called Jones a political insider who is “working inside the system for his own benefit.”

“I cannot be bought, and I will not back down,” Jackson said.

US House primaries

Democrat Jasmine Clark won her party’s nomination on Tuesday to succeed Rep. David Scott for a two-year term representing Georgia’s 13th Congressional District after Scott died in April while seeking another term.

Clark is a state representative, microbiologist and a lecturer at Emory University who has promised to prioritize science in Congress. Her candidacy was boosted by more than $2 million in outside spending by cryptocurrency interests, but Clark said she did not court the support.

Clark will be the odds-on favorite to succeed Scott for a full term starting next January, with Jonathan Chavez unopposed to become the Republican nominee.

In the 11th District northwest of Atlanta, Loudermilk announced his retirement and endorsed staffer Rob Adkerson, who’s challenged by neurologist John Cowan and Public Service Commissioner Tricia Pridemore.

In the 10th District east of Atlanta, state Rep. Houston Gaines is the top Republican seeking to take the departing Collins’ seat. Jim Kingston, the son of longtime U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston, is the top Republican to take Carter’s seat in coastal Georgia’s 1st District.

In northeast Georgia’s 9th District, three-term Republican incumbent Andrew Clyde fended off primary challenges from former Gainesville Mayor Sam Couvillon and Hall County Commissioner Gregg Poole.

Democrats hope for an incumbent defeat

Tuesday is the general election for Georgia’s judgeships. The posts are technically nonpartisan, but eight of the nine justices on the state Supreme Court were appointed by Republicans governors. Democrats are supporting Miracle Rankin in her challenge to Justice Charlie Bethel. They hope a strong Democratic turnout could produce the first defeat of an incumbent justice since 1922.

Justice Sarah Hawkins Warren won over Democrat-supported former state Sen. Jen Jordan on Tuesday. A third justice, Ben Land, is unopposed for a six-year term.

The state Judicial Qualifications Commission, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing by judges, said in statements dated Sunday that Jordan and Rankin violated rules of judicial conduct by publicly endorsing each other and making statements supporting the restoration of abortion rights.

The commission said it reached its conclusions, which are not a final determination, after receiving and reviewing a complaint about each candidate.

State Democratic Party Chair Charlie Bailey called the commission’s statements “a cynical attempt by a mere bureaucratic arm of the Georgia Republican establishment to hide the truth about this race from Georgia voters.”

___

Amy is a former Associated Press reporter. Associated Press reporter Mike Catalini in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, contributed.

Jeff Amy And Bill Barrow, The Associated Press